Eddie Hearn says Raymond Ford could build a long-term home in Houston regardless of how his fight with O’Shaquie Foster plays out, and reflected on the challenges of developing Ford into a marketable star without a consistent fanbase base.
Hearn spoke to BoxingScene ahead of Saturday’s WBC junior-featherweight title fight at Fertitta Center in Houston.
“Ray hasn’t built a massive fanbase. He’s from Camden, New Jersey. But what he is is really good, so you have to do something as a promoter to create opportunities. A win would put Ray in that conversation. Neither of them are massive ticket sellers. When we looked at this fight, it was ‘Where do we do this fight?’ O’Shaquie Foster said ‘I don’t want the fight in New Jersey.’ He’s the champion — fair play. So, Vegas? It’s not really a Vegas fight so you go to a smaller arena. And then we started looking at Houston.”
Hearn was candid about what a win would mean for Ford’s trajectory.
“If Ray wins he becomes a star. The winner — if Foster wins, he can come back here and fight every time. Ray, maybe he fights in Houston hereafter. He’ll wanna fight Navarrete. He’ll wanna unify — and those fights can take place anywhere.”
On the emotional stakes of the fight for him personally, Hearn was direct.
“I’m not going ‘If he wins, we can make some money there’. If he wins, he’s the 18 year old who come into my office in New York and is a two-weight, two-time world champion, which is only really touching the surface of what he could do, and that’s what excites me — and if he loses, he comes again, but he’s not good enough. That’s sport.”
Foster retained the title via majority decision.